In The Middle of The Night
by HopelessRomantic235
Summary: "For a long time I held Orochimaru responsible, blamed him for taking you from us. But, the reality is, Sasuke, that's not how it works. You were already gone before any of us realized, something can't be taken that doesn't want to leave in the first place." SasuSaku. Pre Shippuden, barely.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Woooowwww this is crazy. Long time no see kittens. Apparently when my boyfriend deploys I am suddenly re inspired by the Naruto verse. I have no idea where I am going with this story, how long it will be, ect, but I do hope that you stick with me on this journey and drop some ideas on what you'd like to read in it. Enjoy!**

 **(Title may also change later on, idk)**

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In The Middle of The Night

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He was getting impatient.

His training has been interrupted, he was ordered to come to this farce of a meeting with no explanation.

He rolled his eyes, the mere thought of an Uchiha being ordered to do anything, ridiculous.

"Patience is a virtue, Sasuke-kun." His eyes narrowed at the Snake Sannin's condescending voice.

"This is a waste of my time." He bit out.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Ah, if you would give our guest just a few more minutes, I just know you'll want to be here for their arrival." Sasuke didn't like the sound of that, his teacher would oftentimes obtain… gifts for his surly student, Sasuke was sure it was only to see his reaction that never came.

Sasuke glared. "I did not come here to welcome your guests, I am here for -"

"Ah-ah, do you hear that? Kabuto, it seems as if she has found her way to us." The medic glanced back at the pair, adjusting his glasses with a sly smirk aimed at the Uchiha.

"It seems so, Orochimaru-sama."

After another brief moment in silence Sasuke was readying himself to simply walk out. Before he could announce his departure suddenly heavy wooden door quite literally burst open, Sasuke threw himself out of the way to avoid the flying pieces. He immediately drew his sword, immediately beginning to assess the unfamiliar new comer as the dust settled. The torches in the room cast a light over the newcomer, illuminating the toes of her black boots all the way up to the top of her pink haired head.

"Sakura-chan, how lovely of you to join us."

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 **A/N: AAAAANNNDDDD there it is, first chapter, I wanted it to be a bit longer but it was just too perfect a place for it to end. Next chapter will be longer for sure so don't worry.**

 **Let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wooooo second chapter in less than two hours who am I**

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In The Middle of The Night

* * *

Sakura awoke to darkness.

 _Where am I..._

Her head pounded as she attempted to sit up, muscles protesting harshly. She groaned, trying to take a mental inventory of her injuries. She was unbound, bones were intact, organs functioning, the only pains she felt was the throbbing in her head. The memories slowly came filtering back, she had been on her journey home from collecting herbs in Suna to restock their supply in Konoha, a task she had completed many times before. She had stopped for the night where she always does, refilled her canteen from the same stream, rolled her mat out under the same tree. It was her second day of travel, she was close to home. She had done everything right, followed every protocol when traveling alone. The likelihood of an ambush was slim to none, the likelihood that she wouldn't have awoken to a foreign presence even less so.

Sakura sighed, her eyes finally adjusting to the lack of light to see that she was in a small room and that she had spent however long sprawled out on a cement floor. That explains the aching, at least. Her eyes squinted to try and pick up any other details but it seemed as if that was it, just a room and a door.

Carefully the kunoichi picked herself up from the ground and walked to the front of the room, taking the path of least resistance to find that the door was - unlocked?

She peeked into the dimly lit hallway, surely it was not this easy. Her captures were either the most careless she had ever encountered, or whoever brought her here wanted her to find them.

This wasn't a good situation, she thought, no weapons, not a clue of where she was and now she was to go wander around aimlessly until she stumbled upon - what? A way out? Her kidnappers?

As if there really was another choice.

With a resigned huff Sakura slowly stepped out into the hallway, masking her chakra and slinking along the walls. This place was dark and musty, a certain humidity clinging into the air, was she underground? She shivered, rubbing her hands against her forearms as she tried not to think about which of Konoha's enemies preferred underground hideouts.

At each door she passed she reached out to feel for any chakra signatures, a sign of life. After a few moments her path came upon a dead end, a single door standing before her. She took a moment, thinking that if her captures intended on her finding them then this would be where they were waiting. She heard murmured voices just on the other side and apprehension quickly overcame her. This was insane, this went against every survival course, every protocol that she was ever taught. There could be anything behind that door.

The door splintered under her knuckles and she took the opportunity to quickly steel her emotions, she would face whatever was waiting for her just as she was trained to do so.

The pink haired girl stood just inside the doorway, fists clenched and eyes shifting warily around the room until they fell on _him_.

"Sakura-chan, How lovely of you to join us."

At hearing his snake-like voice say her name dread quickly spread through her. Sakura wished that she had never encountered Orochimaru, that she had never met Kabuto. The two meant evil, deception, and she was helplessly trapped.

"My dear, what an entrance, this is truly better than I could have ever imagined. It seems that Kabuto was correct, the sedative worked through your system rather quickly. That must mean you're advancing well through your medical training, hm?" His voice grated on her nerves, she felt exposed standing here in the open facing her greatest enemy.

"What is this?" Sakura questioned, refusing to play these mind games.

"So to the point Sakura?" Kabuto's voice appeared beside her but she forced herself to remain calm, showing weakness was not an option. "I was hoping we could catch up, it's been too long."

"Kabuto," Sakura said, voice tight. "Someone hasn't killed you by now?" The man smirked, walking a circle around the young girl, his narrowed eyes dragging up her frame.

"I've been saving the honor for you, just look at how much you've grown." Sakura's eyes flashed as she rounded on the silver haired man, her fist encased in a blue haze. Unfortunately, the male medic was quick, and her hand connected with the stone wall instead of Kabuto's head.

"What am I doing here?" She demanded again, pulling her hand from the crumbled stone.

"Well that's just it, I haven't quite decided yet." Somewhere in the shadows Sasuke clenched his fists, how predictable. Bitterly Sasuke hoped his less than collected state at the moment was entertainment enough for the Sannin.

"Sasuke-kun, come on out now, it's rude not to greet old friends." Her heart started beating erratically, she had felt a third precense in the room but she had hoped it wouldn't be him, she didn't want to face him like this. She fought to remain impassive, no reaction, no weakness.

He walked into the light and Sakura stopped breathing.

He was taller, older, blank. But she knew that he was angry to see her here, she saw it in his perfectly clenched jaw and in the way his eyes narrowed. Two years is a long time to not see someone, but some things would never change.

After a moment Sakura tore her eyes away, it hurt to look at him.

"Are you not pleased, Sasuke?" Kabuto taunted, a hand tucked casually in his pant pocket. "We went through quite an ordeal to bring little Sakura here, for you."

"It was a waste of time then." She almost dropped to the floor right there, his voice was hardly recognizable.

In front of her Orochimaru smiled. "I'm sure you'll come to change your mind, my young student. Kabuto, you may take her to a cell, this encounter has become boring."

"My pleasure, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto grabbed Sakura by the upper arm, but she wound't be herded so easily, Tsunade wouldn't have approved. Her left fist immediately came around to finally connect with Kabuto's face, she had caught him off guard and Sakura took every satisfaction in watching the man slam into the wall.

Slowly, he picked himself back up, chucking darkly as he wiped a trail of blood from his chin. "You little bitch." Suddenly he was gone and reappeared behind her a second later but she was ready, twisting her body to meet his attacks blow for blow.

"Careful Sakura, little girls who can't behave get drugged - _again_." The kunoichi gritted her teeth, aiming a kick to his abdomen only to be met with air. Kabuto was behind her then, grabbing her by the neck and pushing her against the wall.

"You were warned." He hissed, the feeling of a needle sliding into her throat the last thing she felt before slipping back into darkness.

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"Well it seems as if I was wrong, that did get more interesting." Orochimaru grinned, turning to his pupil. "Wouldn't you agree, Sasuke-kun?" The Uchiha glanced at him out of the corner of his eye but otherwise gave no response. He was too angry to speak, to confused to think properly. How dare that maniac bring her here, for no reason other than to torment him.

 _That's better than what her purpose could be…_ a small voice in the back of his head whispered. It was right, Sakura could have been abducted to be experimented on, or forced to use her medical skills to serve Orochimaru as Kabuto does, under the threat of death to her and those she loves. She was lucky in a sick backwards way, he supposed.

"Hm. Kabuto, take her to a cell."

"No." Sasuke spoke.

The Sannin turned to him. "No…?"

"I will take her." Sasuke wasn't stupid, he knew this was what his teacher wanted, and he was just feeding into the whim of a dead man.

"And what about your _severed bonds_ Sasuke?" Kabuto smirked, watching as the young man scooped Sakura up from the floor.

"I don't have to explain myself to you." He replied, not bothering to even look in the direction of the medic as he walked out into the hallway, away from prying eyes.

"Have we finally discovered his weakness, Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto chuckled.

"Ah, we all have weaknesses Kabuto, but that girl... she is _leverage_."

"So what do you propose we do with her?" Orochimaru thought for a moment, the possibilities of how he could use this to his advantage endless.

"Wait a day, collect some underlings, I want to see just what the little kunoichi can do."

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 **A/N: I have the next chapter or two almost written out, until next update!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So this chapter contains the fight scene that inspired the rest of the story, I have this habit of getting a scene stuck in my head and just writing around it. Where will it go from here? Don't know! Enjoy!**

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In The Middle Of The Night

* * *

Sasuke sighed harshly, staring at the unconscious girl of his past in his arms.

This was utterly ridiculous.

She shouldn't be here. Orochimaru's lair was no place for Sakura Haruno. She was light and fragile against his chest, kind and honest. She didn't belong in this place of experimentation.

He cursed Orochimaru then, he couldn't have just left it alone, leave _him_ alone. Her presence makes everything even more complicated now, how could he possibly focus on taking down the Snake Sannin with _her_ whimpering and fumbling about. He's worked so hard to forget them and leave his past right where it was and the madman who calls himself Sasuke's teacher just plucks her out of Konoha on a whim.

He looked down again at the girl and realized that, like an imbecile, he had played right into Orochimaru's game. He couldn't help his natural reaction to protect her, despite the claim of having broken those bonds. The mere thought of her in the hands of one of _them_ made him angry.

Sasuke glared ahead, he was _so close_. And here he was, reverting back to his old genin habits.

Pathetic.

* * *

Sakura had awoken for the second time in a matter of days with a pounding headache and zero recollection of how she came to be in her new holding room. This one, unfortunately, did not have an unlocked door - she had checked.

There was no way to tell just how long she had been missing, though knowing her teacher the Hokage would have sent a search party the second day her student hadn't returned. Sakura was punctual, she was good at what she did, Orochimaru and his croons must have been watching her for weeks to have been able to ambush her so effectively.

Soon after she had woken up two random men had come to collect her from her cell to drag her through the corridors. Sakura fought to stay as alert as possible, mapping out the base as best as she could now that she was actually conscious. They rounded a corner and hauled her up crumbling stairs to throw her outside. Her heart fluttered as she considered the possibility that she was being set free.

For a brief moment, as she closed her eyes and she inhaled the fresh earthy scent of the grass, Sakura felt as if she was home. Only for a moment.

As Sakura stood swiftly to her feet she felt a disturbance in the air, on instinct her hand shot out to catch the kunai thrown at her head. The blade pit painfully into her fingers but the feeling was almost welcomed, a relief to feel _anything._

Her eyes raised to watch the crimson blood roll down her pale skin and drip from her wrist. Her eyes shifted to see Sasuke standing beside Kabuto and Orochimaru, the second time she has seen him since her arrival to this hell and they haven't said a word to each other. She supposed that it was nothing new, Sasuke had always been so close and yet so unreachable.

"Sakura-chan," Kabuto spoke, a mocking smile spreading across his face. "Some colleagues have agreed to a friendly spar with you, do try not to be injured too badly."

Beside him Orochimaru hissed, his eyes narrowed as a long tongue slipped past his sickening grin.

"Run, girl."

Her attention was immediately pulled to the tree line in front of her where she saw a group of men emerging from the forest. Sakura grimaced, this was what the snake wanted? A Grecian battle to the death with a knife for her only protection? And he expected her to _flee_?

The kunoichi took a deep breath, willing away her own doubts in her abilities as she prepared herself to face the small army that was approaching. She flicked her hand holding the kunai so it flipped and the hilt landed comfortably back into her bloody palm, fingers tightening around her only weapon.

Sakura quickly analyzed the situation at hand as the men drew closer. Running wasn't an option, obviously, there wasn't a chance that she could escape without being captured once more in her weakened state let alone somehow get back home. But if that was the case then how well could she hold her own against these opponents? Her chakra was nowhere near full capacity and her body already felt strained from the days of malnourishment. She would have to be careful, not an ounce of energy could be wasted.

Sakura spared a glance in Sasuke's direction to see his eyes already fixated on her, forcing a chill to run down her spine.

 _I'll show you Sasuke, you could have found your strength in Konoha._

Gripping the kunai tighter she turned and sprinted away, the sound of Orochimaru's laughter echoing in her mind as he thought he had gotten what he expected, a wild goose chase. A sly smile came across Sakura's face as she sensed the small army running after her. She wasn't evading at all, only giving her audience a front row seat to view her abilities.

She reached the opposite side of the clearing and jumped into the nearest tree, from her new vantage point she could see the men attacking her only amassed to a little less than twenty, not great odds but better than she was anticipating. They seemed normal enough, unlike the sick experiments she knew the snake Sannin conducted. Sakura supposed she should have been grateful in their underestimation of her strength, instead she only felt insulted.

Without a second thought she launched from her position in the tree, soaring through the air and back to the middle of the clearing, her heel connecting harshly with the ground. As the sound of an explosion met her ears she couldn't help the smirk that widened across her lips. It's been a while since she's felt her own power, the feeling of chakra coursing through her limbs was liberating.

Amidst the perfectly calculated destruction Sakura could hear the confused painful shouts of her enemy, disorientated from the thick layer of dust, she could only hope the flying debris had taken out some of them. As expected they blindly threw weapons in her general direction and she only had to raise her kunai to block a few. As the haze cleared her eyes focused to assess the battlefield, a handful of men lay sprawled around the jagged edges of the ground, some unconscious and barely breathing and others crushed beneath chunks of earth.

The remaining opponents were quick to locate her and even quicker to begin their attacks. She dodged and countered swiftly, the lone kunai in her possession serving as her execution weapon. Sakura reasoned that being Orochimaru's lackeys the lot of them were hardly innocent, that this was about survival and it was her or them. But, a part of her chest clenched at the thought of taking their lives, senseless killing for the entertainment of a mad man.

It became clear that these men were no ninjas, their movements were unrefined, reactions slow. Even in her current state, relying on taijutsu to reserve chakra, the only challenge was dealing with the sheer number of all of them. It was obvious that she had been underestimated before stepping a foot outside her confinement, and that would ultimately lead to her victory.

"Sakura!" Her body lurched to a halt, head snapping to her left as Naruto's blonde head appeared.

"Naruto..?" She whispered, disbelief clouding her voice, clutching her weapon closer to her body.

"We finally found you!" He was running towards her but she found herself taking a step back, eyes wide. This was not real. "What are you waiting for? I'm here to bring you back home. Don't you want to come home?" His face fell. "We miss you, Sakura."

The medic shook her head, willing herself to stay calm, the genjutsu was far too obvious to be having such an affect on her. "Kai… Kai!" She shouted, the illusion breaking instantly as Naruto's form blew away with the wind. Before Sakura had a chance to mourn the lost image of her teammate her incoming assailant pounced on her, the pair tumbling to the ground and rolling until the man had her throat in his grasp.

"Ready to die, kunoichi?" He spat, black spots dotting her vision as she clawed at his hands. She thrashed, wracking her brain for a plan. An explosive tag would be useful at the moment, something to draw his attention away from her if only for a moment. But she didn't have any tags, she didn't have senbon or throwing stars or her poisons, nothing. She had one knife, stained in the blood of numerous men already, and her chakra.

Sakura's hand quickly wrapped around the man's wrist, twisting until a loud snap echoed through the air and the man withdrew his fingers from her neck, wailing. In his distraction the medic lunged further to the side to reunite with her weapon, grabbing it hastily to plunge the knife into her enemy's jugular.

Drops of fresh blood covered her porcelain skin as she frantically shoved the man's writhing body off of her and struggled to sit up, coughing and gasping for air. A quick scan of the battle ground told her that the man who attempted to strangle her had been the last of the attackers. Relieved, she shakily stood to her feet, dizzy from lack of oxygen and the sudden physical exertion after days of mistreatment .

"My, my…" Orochimaru started, drawing her attention to the forgotten spectators. "How impressive." Sakura glowered.

"Impressive?" She questioned, taking a step forward as she gathered energy into her palm. "You sick, manipulative bastard!"

"Ah," He was a step in front of her in an instant, his tongue slithering across his bottom lip. "She speaks."

Gasping, Sakura scrambled backwards to put some much needed distance between herself and the Sannin.

"Hmm. In hindsight, I should have expected you to put up more of a fight, after all I do believe that you are one of the only ninja to face an Akatsuki and live to tell the tale. At such a tender, _impressionable_ age as well." Sakura gulped, the yellow eyed stare of Orochimaru sending chills over her skin.

"Tsunade certainly has done well with you. I wonder, has she also passed down the Strength of a Hundred seal to her young protégé? What will you be capable of once you can fight with full force, hm?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, not at all surprised that Orochimaru knew of the seal but bothered nonetheless. Could he somehow use this as a weakness against her, now that he knew she wasn't at her full capabilities?

"Kabuto. Take Sakura-chan back to base, make sure she is comfortable."

"Comfortable, Orochimaru-sama?"

"Yes, clean her up, get her into a room." Orochimaru turned from her, beginning to walk out of the clearing. "Bound her chakra though. There's no telling what kind of destruction she could cause now that it's confirmed she has mastered Tsunade-chan's super strength."

Behind him Kabuto adjusted his glasses, glancing at Sakura's small form. "It would be my pleasure."

"Sasuke-kun, come." Her green eyes snapped to the young Uchiha, but he was already looking at her, assessing, his hand lazily draped over the hilt of his sword. Sakura could never tell what Sasuke was thinking and this instance was no different. She held his gaze until he turned to trail after the Sannin.

She sighed, holding the kunai closer to her person as she followed Kabuto back to her prison, throwing one more hopeless glance at the trees that stood between her and home.

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 **A/N: I've probably edited this about twenty times and I'm still not 100% pleased with it, but hopefully it didn't feel rushed!**


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